Saturday, 28 November 2009

Nijmegen's big bridge for cyclists

Sometimes a really big link is required to make cycling convenient. This huge cycle bridge in Nijmegen is one of them, complete with escalators to help cyclists take a short cut.

Note the width of the bridge. It is wide enough to prevent conflict between cyclists travelling in opposite directions.

The bridge is known as the "snelbinder". This is a play on words. The elastic bungie straps that many Dutch people have to attach luggage to their bicycles racks are also called snelbinders, and the word suggests that it is something that provides a quick link. The main span is 235 metres long and the bridge reaches 26 metres in height.

There is a wikimedia photo on the left showing the escalator for bicycles. Click for a larger version. There are also some more photos of the bridge here.

Nijmegen is considered to be the oldest city in the Netherlands. The city has an urban population of 280000 people.

12 comments:

I cycled this bridge this summer (on my way to my holiday in Wuppertal Germany), to be more precise on the last day of the "Nijmeegse vierdaagse", and it was very busy in the city. It's a very nice bridge, not to steep and a great view over the waters etc.

And to think we recently got excited by a new bridge for peds and cyclists across the Regent's Canal here in London - it's a tiddler in comparison! Interesting to see people using bykes on escalators - banned on the Underground for being too dangerous... Still, one kilometre of infrastructure at a time I suppose.

McD: They certainly do mill about. Good on them too, it's better than people having to live in fear of Mr Toad. Note also that the width of the cycle paths means that much of the conflict which could occur does not.

@McD, if you mean the man on the cycle path around 2:50, I am afraid that was an (English speaking) tourist... but the Dutch themselves are in the way sometimes too. And as David already pointed out; there is plenty of room to cycle around them.

Also note, this bikepath is the shortest way from the trainstation to the riverside, also for pedestrians. This means that many people who have to go there don't take the long path through the park, but rather walk on the bikepath. Which, by the way, is allowed in the Netherlands. If there is no footpath the bikepath may be used.

I don't think there is anything special about the escalators. It's actually very easy to take a bike on normal escalators. I've done so many times at Dutch railway stations. You simply wheel it on and turn the front wheel to stop the bike going further. It's resting on steps, not a slope, so it won't try to roll away.

The bicycle bridge over the A16 motorway and the HSL railline connecting Prinsenbeek with Breda has escalators, normal stairs and lifts to get on and of the bridge. But for some reason the fietsersbond and the locals thought that escalators weren't safe enough and asked/demanded in 2002 on/of ramps to be added. The bridged opened in 2003 and eventually in 2006 the bridge was reopend in 2006 with the ramps.(http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=623731 pic 18 and 19 are of the bridge)

The situation in Prinsenbeek actually was that people preferred the ramps used during construction, so petitioned them to be permanent.

Now for escalators. The escalators are special in so much that they are the widest model normally sold so you can actually fit on them. My memory of the London underground includes ones far too narrow to use safely.

Secondly, with rain those exposed escalators like at Nijmegen, but also found at Prinsenbeek and the Heijenoord tunnel do get a bit tricky, mainly due to the frontwheel slipping.

The basic idea of escalators for bicycles is pretty old though, in 1942 the Maastunnel in Rotterdam opemed with 4 escalators per side and a lift accessible only with permission, the same equipment and situation is there to this day and the tunnel is sttill used by thousands daily.

Study Tours

You've read the blog, now see everything with your own eyes. Since 2006, hundreds of people have joined us on our Cycling Study Tours.
First hand experience is better than reading. Book a tour to see how policy and infrastructure have attracted people from all walks of life to cycle:

Support this blog

Thousands of hours of work have gone into compiling the information on this blog but we do not receive grants and we do not ask for charity to support us.

You can help to make further blog posts possible by buying proven bicycle components from us:

Copyright and Licensing

This blog is free of charge to read and for most individual usage including reasonable "quoting" of its contents. However, neither the text nor the photos on this blog are in the public domain. To find out more, please read our copyright and licensing information.

Search This Blog

Loading...

Non-sponsored links

Experience for yourself how policy and infrastructure in Assen and Groningen have led to the high cycling modal share in this area:

If you like this blog please support us so we can continue. We sell quality bicycle components:

Cycling holidays in Assen and Drenthe, where this blog is based:
All the youtube videos from this blog: